Ian Somerhalder Aiming for Nobel Prize

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Yes, you read that right. Not an Emmy. Not an MTV Movie Award. Not another Teen Choice Award. Ian Somerhalder wants a Nobel Prize — but not for himself.

You see, last spring the actor traveled to Zimbabwe to film a documentary about a research biologist named Allan Savory, who has come up with an innovative way to fight climate change.

Savory pioneered an agricultural process known as Holistic Management, which is used on more than 30 million acres around the globe. The method focuses on farming in the healthiest, most sustainable way possible, a theory that Somerhalder thinks is worthy of a Nobel.

“He’s figured out a way to reverse climate change, literally through agriculture. So I’m directing this documentary about him with Geoff Shotz, our camera director on Vampire Diaries…The goal of the movie is to win Allan Savory a Nobel Prize for agriculture, which has never been done,” Somerhalder said.

“You look at things like An Inconvenient Truth, which Al Gore did, it never once mentions [how] agriculture contributes more to climate change than anything else in the world. It makes me crazy to think about, so we’re going to change that.”

So does Somerhalder ever consider following in Alec Baldwin’s footsteps by leaving acting for politics? He says no. “I’m never running for office. I just love this part of it. I love being able to speak to members of Congress or members of the Senate and floating on either side, because it takes all of us. It’s going to take both of them.”

That doesn’t mean he’s not politically active, though. In addition to speaking before Congress earlier this month, Somerhalder also plans to interview former president Jimmy Carter for the Savory documentary.

For more on Somerhalder’s trip to Africa, including his experiences with an orphaned elephant and baby baboons, head over to his ISF blog.